This invention relates to the field of preparing and screening libraries of clones containing microbially derived DNA.
Naturally occurring assemblages of microorganisms often encompass a bewildering array of physiological and metabolic diversity. In fact, it has been estimated that to date less than one percent of the world""s organisms have been cultured. It has been suggested that a large fraction of this diversity thus far has been unrecognized due to difficulties in enriching and isolating microorganisms in pure culture. Therefore, it has been difficult or impossible to identify or isolate valuable proteins, e.g. enzymes, from these samples. These limitations suggest the need for alternative approaches to characterize the physiological and metabolic potential, i e. activities of interest of as-yet uncultivated microorganisms, which to date have been characterized solely by analyses of PCR amplified rRNA gene fragments, clonally recovered from mixed assemblage nuleic acids.
In one aspect, the invention provides a process of screening clones having DNA from an uncultivated microorganism for a specified protein, e.g. enzyme, activity which process comprises:
screening for a specified protein, e.g enzyme, activity in a library of clones prepared by
(i) recovering DNA from a DNA population derived from at least one uncultivated microorganism; and
(ii) transforming a host with recovered DNA to produce a library of clones which are screened for the specified protein, e.g. enzyme, activity.
The library is produced from DNA which is recovered without culturing of an organism, particularly where the DNA is recovered from an environmental sample containing microorganisms which are not or cannot be cultured.
In a preferred embodiment DNA is ligated into a vector, particularly wherein the vector further comprises expression regulatory sequences which can control and regulate the production of a detectable proteins, e.g. enzyme, activity from the ligated DNA.
The f-factor (or fertility factor) in E. coli is a plasmid which effects high frequency transfer of itself during conjugation and less frequent transfer of the bacterial chromosome itself. To achieve and stably propogate large DNA fragments from mixed microbial samples, a particularly preferred embodiment is to use a cloning vector containing an f-factor origin of replication to generate genomic libraries that can be replicated with a high degree of fidelity. When integrated with DNA from a mixed uncultured environmental sample, this makes it possible to achieve large genomic fragments in the form of a stable xe2x80x9cenvironmental DNA library.xe2x80x9d
In another preferred embodiment, double stranded DNA obtained from the uncultivated DNA population is selected by:
converting the double stranded genomic DNA into single stranded DNA;
recovering from the converted single stranded DNA single stranded DNA which specifically binds, such as by hybridization, to a probe DNA sequence; and
converting recovered single stranded DNA to double stranded DNA.
The probe may be directly or indirectly bound to a solid phase by which it is separated from single stranded DNA which is not hybridized or otherwise specifically bound to the probe.
The process can also include releasing single stranded DNA from said probe after recovering said hybridized or otherwise bound single stranded DNA and amplifying the single stranded DNA so released prior to converting it to double stranded DNA.
The invention also provides a process of screening clones having DNA from an uncultivated microorganisms for a specified protein, e.g. enxcx9cyme, activity which comprises screening for a specified gene cluster protein product activity in the library of clones prepared by: (i) recovering DNA from a DNA population derived from at least one uncultivated microorganism; and (ii3 transforming a host with recovered DNA to produce a library of clones with the screens for the specified protein, e.g enzyme, activity. The library is produced from gene cluster DNA which is recovered without culturing of an organism, particularly where the DNA gene clusters are recovered from an envirorunental sample containing microorganisms which are not or cannot be cultured.
Alternatively, double-stranded gene cluster DNA obtained from the uncultivated DNA population is selected by converting the double-stranded genomic gene cluster DNA into single-stranded DNA; recovering from the converted single-stranded gene cluster polycistron DNA, single-stranded DNA which specifically binds, such as by hybridization, to a polynucleotide probe sequence; and converting recovered single-stranded gene cluster DNA to double-stranded DNA.
These and other aspects of the present invention are described with respect to particular preferred embodiments and will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the teachings herein.